Little Devil
by cleotheo
Summary: Hermione loves her son, but sometimes he can be a little devil. Hermione recounts her week from hell while looking after a mischievous Scorpius. Fun, fluffy, Dramione family One Shot.


**A/N - This is a rather long one-shot, but it's pure family fluff. It's intended to be light-hearted and humorous. I hope people enjoy reading about a cute, little, mischievous Scorpius.**

* * *

"Mummy, where's Grandpa's cake?" Four year old, Scorpius Malfoy, called to his mother, Hermione as he burst into the master bedroom.

"In the kitchen," Hermione replied. "I'll get it in a minute."

"Okay," Scorpius answered as he turned around and ran back to his own room.

Hermione meanwhile finished getting ready to go to the manor for the afternoon. It was Lucius's birthday and she was heading to the manor for the afternoon with Scorpius and her husband, Draco. Luckily for Hermione, Draco had volunteered to get Scorpius ready for the afternoon, meaning she hadn't had to deal with the hassle of trying to get her lively son ready to go out for the afternoon.

Leaving the bedroom and heading downstairs, Hermione found her husband and son all dressed and ready to leave. Draco had Lucius's present in his hands, and Scorpius was sitting eagerly in front of the fire with his puppy, Zeus.

"Don't forget the cake," Scorpius told his mother sternly.

"I won't," Hermione reassured her son. "You two go on ahead, I'll just grab the cake and I'll be right with you."

"Come on Scorp, let's go," Draco said, connecting the floo network and herding his son into the fire along with his puppy.

Hermione watched her husband and son disappear, before heading into the kitchen to retrieve the chocolate cake she and Scorpius had baked the previous day. With the chocolate cake in hand, she returned to the front room and flooed to the manor. When she arrived at the manor, she found the family outside in the back garden. Also with her parents-in-law and husband was Draco's best friend, Blaise Zabini. Blaise was practically part of the family and Hermione wasn't the slightest bit surprised to find him at Lucius's birthday celebration.

"Is that cake?" Lucius asked, his grey eyes lighting up at the box his daughter-in-law was carrying.

"It is," Hermione replied with a smile.

"I made it," Scorpius declared proudly.

"Then it'll be the best cake ever," Lucius said, ruffling his grandson's blond hair.

"We'll have a piece with our afternoon tea," Narcissa said, before turning to her son. "And why aren't you carrying the cake? You should be looking after Hermione."

"Honestly Narcissa, I'm fine," Hermione insisted as Draco obediently took the cake box from her hands, which caused Blaise to laugh at how his best friend was well and truly under the thumb of his mother and wife.

"Are you sure?" Narcissa checked, scrutinising her daughter-in-law. Hermione was nearly seven months pregnant, and she couldn't help but be a bit overprotective of the witch she thought of as a daughter. "You look a bit tired."

"I've just had a hell of a week," Hermione replied with a sigh as she settled down in one of the garden chairs next to her husband.

"I thought you'd started your maternity leave this week," Lucius remarked.

"I did, and that was the problem," Hermione said. "Well, that and the fact Scorpius finished nursery for the summer." Scorpius attended a muggle nursery for a few days a week, and in September he would be starting school.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Narcissa asked. "I thought you'd timed going on maternity leave to deliberately coincide with Scorpius's summer break."

"I had," Hermione said. "But now I think I'm regretting that move. He's been a devil all week."

"Scorpius?" Lucius questioned with an amused smirk. Scorpius had headed off to play with Zeus, and the pair were running happily around the back garden. "He's an angel."

"He is a well behaved child," Narcissa agreed.

"Of course he is, he's my son," Draco said with a smirk.

"He doesn't get his good behaviour off you," Narcissa snorted. "You were a right handful as a child. I assume his good behaviour comes from Hermione."

"Hermione's no angel," Draco laughed, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from his unimpressed wife.

"I don't think now's the time to be sharing your bedroom secrets, Draco," Blaise laughed.

"I just meant that Hermione has a wicked side, and not just in the bedroom," Draco said. "Although I do protest to being called a handful, I was a good child."

"I have to agree there," Lucius conceded. "Draco was an impeccably behaved child."

"You didn't have to cope with him all day, every day," Narcissa shot back at her husband. "By the time you came in from work he'd tired himself out and was quite happy to be an angel for his daddy."

"Now there's a familiar story," Hermione chuckled. "Scorp is exactly the same. He's been a terror all week, but the second Draco comes home, he's perfectly fine."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Draco said to his wife. "Maybe he's felt like more of a handful because of your pregnancy."

"How about I tell you about my week, then you can judge for yourself," Hermione replied.

"Come on then," Draco urged. "Tell us about your week, and I bet your hormones are just making things seem worse than they are."

Hermione glared at Draco for implying her hormones were affecting her judgement. However, she didn't challenge him on the subject. Instead she poured herself a glass of cold elf-made lemonade and began to tell her husband, Blaise and her parents-in-law about the week from hell she'd just endured with her devil of a son.

 **()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()**

 **Monday.**

After getting up early and making sure Draco had something to eat before his early morning meeting, Hermione headed back upstairs to wake their son. Today marked the beginning of her maternity leave, and the beginning of Scorpius's summer holidays. Hermione was looking forward to spending some quality time with her son before they welcomed the newest addition to the family. So far, Scorpius seemed perfectly happy to be gaining a sibling, but Hermione wanted to make sure it stayed that way. She didn't want her little boy to think he wasn't special because they were having a second child.

"Come on, sleepyhead," Hermione called as she entered her son's room. Picking her way over the toy littered floor, she pulled open the curtains and bathed Scorpius's room with bright sunlight. "Rise and shine."

With a slight bit of poking and prodding, Scorpius emerged from his bed. Ushering him into the bathroom, Hermione supervised him getting washed and brushing his teeth before they returned to the bedroom so he could get dressed.

"I want to dress myself," Scorpius said as Hermione pulled him a pair of trousers and a t-shirt out of his wardrobe. "I'm a big boy now."

"Okay, I'll just supervise," Hermione said. Scorpius had recently had his fourth birthday and ever since then he'd been pushing for more independence.

"No," Scorpius said, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not a baby, Mummy. I don't need watching."

"Okay, I'll just go and get myself dressed," Hermione conceded. She wasn't worried about Scorpius hurting himself as they had numerous charms around the house that alerted them to potential danger.

Even with all the security charms in place, Hermione didn't want to leave Scorpius alone for too long so she dressed in record speed. Returning to her son's room, she couldn't help but groan at the sight that greeted her. Scorpius had spurned the clothes she'd gotten out for him and pulled other things from his wardrobe. He'd pulled out an old pair of trousers which he'd obviously grown out of since he'd last worn them as they stopped midway down his calves. The yellow t-shirt he was wearing was both inside out and back to front, and he was wearing odd socks.

"See, I'm a big boy," Scorpius announced, grinning at his mother when he spotted her in the doorway.

"Yes, you are," Hermione agreed. "But I think you need a bit more practice with dressing. Let me help you today, and you can keep practising for the rest of the week."

"But I'm dressed," Scorpius pouted.

"But your socks are odd, your trousers are too small and your t-shirt is inside out," Hermione gently pointed out. "Just let me fix those things."

"Okay," Scorpius said with a dramatic sigh.

Chuckling at her son, Hermione yanked off his socks and quickly found a matching pair in his drawer. She then took his t-shirt off and turned it the right way, before removing his trousers.

"Scorp, where's your underwear?" Hermione asked, shocked to find her son was naked underneath his trousers.

"I don't like underpants," Scorpius answered.

"Well, people have to wear underwear," Hermione said, thinking about how like his father Scorpius was. Draco was also opposed to underwear and often went without, and of course he liked to encourage her to do the same.

After wrangling Scorpius into some underwear, Hermione handed him the trousers she'd originally picked out and helped him put them on the right way. She then made sure he put his t-shirt on right and was wearing matching socks before they headed off downstairs.

When they entered the kitchen, Scorpius's puppy come bounding over to them. While Scorpius got onto the floor to hug his dog, Hermione prepared Zeus's breakfast. With the dog sorted, Hermione settled Scorpius at the table as she flicked the kettle on for her coffee and grabbed her favourite mug.

"So what do you want for breakfast, Scorp?" Hermione asked as she opened the cupboard to see what sort of cereal they had.

"Sex."

Hermione almost dropped the mug she was holding as she turned round to look at her son, convinced she'd misheard him. "Sorry, what do you want?"

"Sex," Scorpius repeated, speaking very slowly and very clearly so that Hermione could understand him.

"Sex?" Hermione questioned, still unable to believe she'd heard her four year old correctly. "Where did you hear about sex?"

"Uncle Blaise," Scorpius answered. "He told Daddy he had sex for breakfast and it was yummy. Daddy said sex was better than boring cereal and toast. So I want to try some."

Mentally Hermione cursed her husband and his best friend. Nine times out of ten their conversations took a sexual turn and Hermione had warned them more than once to be careful what they said around Scorpius. The boy was like a sponge, he absorbed everything and he never forget anything either. Even if she brushed him off today, he'd only ask for sex for breakfast another day. Although hopefully it was be a day when Draco was in and her husband could handle their curious four year old.

"Sorry Scorp, I only have cereal," Hermione answered.

"But I want to try sex," Scorpius whined.

"Well we don't have any," Hermione replied. "And there'll be none for your daddy either," She muttered under her breath. "So what cereal do you want?"

"Don't want cereal," Scorpius pouted. "I want sex."

"It's not happening Scorp," Hermione replied as she pulled out a box of Scorpius's favourite cereal, coco pops. "How about we compromise, and you can pour your own cereal."

Scorpius had been asking to put his own cereal for a few months now, but Hermione had so far refused to let him as she dreaded the mess he would make. However, it seemed like a small price to pay if he stopped asking for sex. Luckily Scorpius was happy with the compromise and agreed to have cereal if he could pour his own.

Placing a bowl and the cereal box onto the table, Hermione got the milk out of the fridge. Deciding the milk bottle was too bulky for Scorpius to handle, Hermione sat it on the table while she searched for a milk jug. As she searched for the jug, she kept one eye on her son and mentally winced as he poured his coco pops into the bowl and showered the entire table as he did so. Finally spotting the milk jug at the back of the cupboard, Hermione reached for it and just as her fingers curled around the handle she heard Scorpius giggle. Turning around she found him holding the milk bottle with both hands as he happily poured it over his cereal. However, as she suspected the bottle was too big for Scorpius to handle and the milk was splashing everywhere, including a steady drip that ran down to the floor.

"Okay Scorp, that's enough milk," Hermione cried as she stepped forward and grabbed the bottle off her son. Whipping out her wand, she quickly cleaned the mess and handed Scorpius a spoon. "Enjoy."

"Mmm," Scorpius moaned as he dug into his cereal. "Can I have sex tomorrow, Mummy?"

"No," Hermione replied, filing a mental note to yell at her husband when he returned from work later that day. "Stick with cereal Scorp, it's much better for you."

"But I want to be like Daddy and Uncle Blaise," Scorpius argued in between mouthfuls of coco pops. "And Grandpa. I bet he's had sex for breakfast."

"I bet he has," Hermione muttered, knowing exactly what her parents-in-law were like. The likelihood of Lucius and Narcissa never indulging in a morning quickie was practically zero in her opinion. "Now eat your cereal. You can then go and play with your quidditch figures while I do a bit of sorting in the nursery."

Fixing herself a cup of tea, Hermione was grateful that the rest of the meal passed without incident. Once Scorpius was finished, he called for Zeus and the pair headed off upstairs with Hermione. Making sure the charm was in place so that Scorpius couldn't go wandering off downstairs, Hermione settled her son and his puppy in his bedroom.

"I'll be in the nursery if you need me," She said, although she was talking to herself as Scorpius had tipped his quidditch figures all over the floor and was too busy sorting them to listen to his mother.

Satisfied that Scorpius would be content to be left to his own devices for a while, Hermione headed into the nursery. Since they didn't know if they were having another boy or a girl the nursery was decorated in a neutral theme, and everything they'd bought had been suitable for either a boy or a girl. However, the place still needed a bit of a sorting and Hermione settled herself down to sort a box of Scorpius's old toys and clothes.

For almost an hour, Hermione was content to sort the nursery, although she kept an ear open for her son. Hermione had just hauled herself to her feet when she heard an almighty crash coming from down the hall.

"Scorpius!"

In a panic, she flew out of the nursery and raced down to her son's room. Skidding to a halt in the doorway, her mouth dropped open at the sight that greeted her. Every single toy and book her son owned was strewn around the floor. Zeus was sitting quite happily on Scorpius's bed, while Scorpius himself was whizzing around on his small broomstick.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" Hermione cried in outrage. "Get down at once."

Sheepishly, Scorpius headed back to the ground and dismounted his broom. "Sorry, it was an accident."

"What was an accident?" Hermione asked.

"The books," Scorpius answered, pointing to his bookshelves. "I didn't mean to crash into them."

"And what were you doing on your broom?" Hermione demanded. "You know you're not allowed to fly without your Dad being present."

"But that's outside on my big broom," Scorpius argued. "This is just my baby broom."

"Which you are still not allowed to fly be yourself," Hermione argued. Just like his father, Scorpius had an answer to everything, which at times made it nigh on impossible to get anything through to him. "In fact you shouldn't be flying indoors, it's dangerous."

"Yes Mummy," Scorpius sighed, recognising that his mother was being deadly serious.

"Now tidy your toys up, this room is a pigsty," Hermione said.

"Can't we use magic?" Scorpius asked with a whine.

"No we cannot." Hermione gave her son a serious glare, letting him know he wasn't going to wheedle his way out of clearing up. "You got everything out, so you can tidy it away."

With a dramatic sigh, Scorpius turned back to his toys and began to dramatically return them to his toy box. As she moved over to sort out the books, Hermione chuckled at her son's antics. He was returning each toy one by one and every move was accompanied by a series of moans and groans. Clearly he was trying to guilt tripping her into helping him, but Hermione wasn't going to let herself be swayed by his innocent little face and adorable smile.

Eventually Scorpius caught onto the fact his mother wasn't going to help him so he changed tactics. Picking up as many toys as he could carry in his little arms, he dumped them unceremoniously into his toy box. Finally all his toys were away, but his toy box was a mess and Hermione just knew there'd be trouble when he wanted to find something later on. Although maybe the mess he'd created would teach him a lesson about not getting everything out at once.

"Come on," Hermione said once the room was tidy again. "Let's go and get something to eat. And then we'll have a peaceful afternoon."

"Can I play with my drums?" Scorpius asked as they headed back downstairs. He'd gotten a set of drums for his birthday off his Uncle Blaise, and after Zeus, it was the best present he'd received.

"We'll see," Hermione answered as she saw her hopes for a peaceful afternoon disappear up in smoke. Now Scorpius had the idea of playing on his drums he wouldn't rest until he got his own way, and Hermione knew she would likely give in and let Scorpius play with his drums.

Sure enough after dinner, Hermione was forced to contend with a four year and his drums all afternoon. As she struggled to get enough peace to even try and relax, Hermione once again cursed Blaise Zabini. First he'd created a whole mess with Scorpius wanting sex for breakfast, and now he'd provided the nosiest present ever. Right at that moment, Hermione hated her husband's best friend and if Blaise had been unfortunate enough to pop by he would have felt the wrath of a very hormonal and frustrated Hermione.

 **()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()**

 **Tuesday.**

As Scorpius ate his breakfast, luckily with no mention of sex, Hermione drew up a shopping list. She would do her big grocery shop at a time when Draco was available to look after Scorpius, but for today she would just grab the essentials from the wizarding village they lived on the outskirts of.

"When you've finished, go and grab your shoes," Hermione said to her son as he slurped at the last few dregs of his cereal.

"Why?" Scorpius asked, narrowing his grey eyes at his mother.

"So we can go out," Hermione answered. "We're going down to the village."

"Don't want to."

Hermione looked up from her shopping list and shot her petulant son a stern glare. "We are going to the village, Scorpius. Now finish your breakfast so we can go."

Scorpius returned Hermione's glare with one of his own before he picked his spoon back up and scooped up another helping of cereal. Hermione nodded happily when Scorpius moved the spoon towards his mouth, but seconds later her mouth dropped open in shock when her son tipped the spoon over so its contents ran all down his shirt. To an innocent observer it would look at though Scorpius had just accidently missed his mouth, but Hermione knew better. Her son had deliberately thrown his cereal down his t-shirt to cause trouble.

"Scorpius!" She scolded, snatching his spoon and bowl off him before he could cause any more damage.

"Oops," Scorpius said with a shrug of his little shoulders.

"Oops my foot, that was deliberate," Hermione muttered as she grabbed a towel and moved to her son's side. Dabbing at the t-shirt she quickly realised it was no good, her son would have to be changed before they went out.

"Come on mister, up those stairs," Hermione said, clapping her hands together. "We have to get you a fresh t-shirt."

Hermione expected resistance from her son, but much to her surprise he happily jumped from his seat and along with Zeus he went running for the stairs. Hermione was able to move quickly enough so that she reached the hallway before Scorpius and the puppy took off up the stairs. Following Scorpius up the stairs, Hermione cursed her son for the delay. She was hoping to get down to the village and be back well before lunch.

Entering Scorpius's room, Hermione found her son had already stripped off his t-shirt and thrown it on the floor. He was just about to do the same with his trousers, when she stopped him.

"You don't need to remove your trousers," She said. "I'll grab you a t-shirt, you get your new trainers from the wardrobe."

Picking up Scorpius's messy t-shirt, she quickly popped into the bathroom where the laundry basket was and dropped it in before returning to her son's room and finding him a fresh top. With a clean t-shirt in her hand, she turned to her son and found him sitting on the bed holding one of his new trainers.

"Where's the other one?"

"Can't find it," Scorpius replied with a shrug.

"If you've hidden it there'll be trouble," Hermione warned. She was just hoping that Zeus hadn't gotten hold of the show and chewed it to pieces.

Wrangling Scorpius into his fresh t-shirt, Hermione set of to find her son's shoe. She checked the wardrobe and found no sign of it, so she then checked under the bed and in the toy chest. Pulling out her wand out, she tried summoning the shoe. With a whoosh, the shoe came flying into the room from the open window. Hermione frowned at the fact the window was open, and when she picked up the shoe that had landed at her feet, she found it covered in mud.

"What on earth?" Heading over to the window, Hermione peered outside and found the flowerbed directly under her son's window looked the worse for ear. "Scorpius, did you throw your shoe out of the window?"

"No," Scorpius answered, his little face a picture of innocence.

If it had been any other child, Hermione may have believed them, but this was her son they were talking about. More appropriately, he was Draco's son and a Malfoy. That meant he was naturally mischievous and he could lie with the best of them. Luckily, Hermione had a knack of knowing when the Malfoy men were lying, and her son was no different.

"We do not throw shoes out of the window," She scolded her son as she slammed the window shut, locked it and magically cleaned the small trainer in her hand.

"I know, it's bad," Scorpius replied seriously.

"Yes, it is," Hermione agreed as she pulled her son's shoes on. "And if I catch you doing it again, you'll be in trouble mister."

Instead of protesting his innocence, Scorpius merely looked at her with his big grey eyes. As she often was, Hermione was reminded of her husband. Draco tended to try the same trick if he'd been caught out doing something mischievous. Instead of trying to defend himself, he'd turn on the charm and make her forget why she was even annoyed at him in the first place. Scorpius was just the same, and one look had her unable to stay mad at her little boy.

"Come on, we've got to go." Taking hold of Scorpius's hand, Hermione helped him to the floor and herded him towards the stairs.

Once downstairs, Hermione sent Scorpius into the front room while she went to grab her shopping list from the kitchen. With her shopping list in hand, she decided to grab her bag and their jackets before grabbing Scorpius from the front room. Sliding her feet into the shoes she kept in the front hallway, Hermione checked she had everything she would need in her bag and grabbed both her jacket and Scorpius's.

"Okay, we're ready…" Hermione's voice trailed off as she entered the front room and was confront with a naked Scorpius.

In the brief time she'd left him alone her son had stripped himself of his clothes. His trainers were lying on the fireplace, his trousers and underpants were on the sofa and his t-shirt was on Zeus's head. Not that the dog cared, he was just happy to be lying curled up in front of the window.

"Scorpius!" Hermione cried, throwing down her bag and the jackets in frustration. "What are you doing?"

"I don't like clothes," Scorpius answered.

"Good little boys do not wander around naked," Hermione said as she began to gather her son's clothes up.

"Daddy does," Scorpius retorted as she sat himself down on the floor and folded his arms. "I've seen him."

"Daddy's a bad boy," Hermione replied as she wondered when their son had seen Draco naked. It was true her husband liked to wander around without his clothes on, but he normally saved such behaviour for the privacy of their bedroom.

"Bad boy, Daddy. Bad boy, Daddy," Scorpius chanted.

"You don't want to be a bad boy, do you?" Hermione asked her son.

"I want to be like Daddy," Scorpius answered as he got to his feet.

"Don't you dare run," Hermione warned as he approached her son. "I mean it Scorpius."

Scorpius, however, seemed to think Hermione was just playing as when she took another step towards him, he turned and ran. Muttering to herself, Hermione took off after the four year old. Normally she would have caught him with ease, but the fact she was nearly seven months pregnant complicated matters somewhat. She wasn't quite as agile on her feet, and Scorpius was getting faster as he grew up. Before long she wouldn't be able to catch him even when she wasn't pregnant.

After almost five minutes, Hermione caught her son. Wrangling him into his clothes wasn't easy, but Hermione got finally got him redressed. She then refused to let go of his hand as she pulled his jacket on and the pair left the house. Originally she'd intended to bring Zeus along for a walk, but after the last half hour all she wanted to do was get to the shops and get back home as quickly as possible.

"Scorpius, stop dragging your feet," Hermione hissed as her son dragged his feet and scuffed his shoes beside her. "Walk properly."

"But my legs are tired," Scorpius whined. "We've been walking forever."

"We've just left the garden," Hermione argued. She didn't even have to turn around to see their house was just a short distance behind them.

"Ages ago," Scorpius retorted.

"Ugh, you're going to be a little monster today, aren't you?" Hermione muttered to herself as they continued on to the village.

By the time they reached the village, Hermione had given up on telling Scorpius to walk properly. He clearly wasn't going to listen to her and she was just wasting her breath, so left him to it. Luckily magic would make sure he didn't ruin his shoes.

Arriving in the village did little to help Scorpius's attitude and he groaned at every shop they entered. Slouching around behind Hermione, Scorpius poked and prodded at almost everything in the shops they visited.

"Will you stop doing that," Hermione hissed as her son poked at a loaf of freshly baked bread in the bakers. "Fingers aren't meant for poking. Only bad boys poke."

Grabbing the poked bread, because she felt guilty for leaving it for other people, Hermione grabbed what else she needed before herding her son over to the greengrocers. Even though she did her main grocery shopping at a muggle supermarket, she loved the village for their fresh produce. Almost every shop held a mixture of muggle and magical items, and they all had an old-fashioned appeal to them. The owners of the shops knew all the villagers and everyone was always so nice and polite.

"Hello Mrs Malfoy," Malcolm, the greengrocer called brightly when Hermione and Scorpius entered his shop. "And hello, young Master Malfoy."

"Hi," Scorpius replied, grinning at the friendly greengrocer.

Hermione also greeted the greengrocer before grabbing a basket and starting her shopping. Out of all the shops the greengrocers had the widest choice of wizarding food, and their choice of exotic fruit was the best Hermione had ever seen.

"Mummy, I'm hungry," Scorpius said, tugging at Hermione's arm.

"I'll get you an apple," Hermione replied as she grabbed some passionfruit's and placed them in a bag.

"I'll do it," Scorpius called and took off around the corner.

Hermione chased after her son, but she failed to reach him before he reached a large display of apples. Opening her mouth to tell her son to stop she could only watch in horror as he plucked an apple right from the bottom of the display, causing the apples to go flying all over.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione called to the greengrocer as she pulled out her wand and began to gather the apples back up.

"It's quite alright," Malcolm replied as he moved to help Hermione retrieve the fallen fruit.

"Sorry," Scorpius offered with a sheepish smile.

"Trust you to pick an apple from the bottom of the pile," Hermione muttered. To be honest it was just typical of the day she was having.

With all the apples back in their basket, although not on display the way they had been, Hermione noticed several of them were bruised. Quickly she grabbed a bag and began to pack up all the bruised apples she could find.

"I'm so sorry, I'll take the bruised apples," She said to the greengrocer. "I'm sure I can make pies or something with them."

"Nonsense," Malcom replied, stopping Hermione before she filled her basket with bruised apples. "I can sell them discounted, or I can take them up to the stables for the horses. Don't worry about it, Mrs Malfoy."

"At least let me give you something for them," Hermione said as they headed for the checkout for her to pay.

Despite the greengrocer's protests, Hermione added a few extra galleons to what she paid him. She then took a firm hold of Scorpius's hand and led him out of the shop.

"Can we go and see the horses?" Scorpius questioned as he bit into his shiny, unbruised apple.

At the edge of the village was a horse sanctuary, and the witch that ran it gave riding lessons. Hermione had taken Scorpius up to see the horses many times, and she'd already agreed he could have lessons when he was slightly bigger.

"Not today," Hermione told her son.

She dreaded to think the havoc Scorpius would create with horses the mood he was in. The safest thing was to get him home, and hopefully he wouldn't cause any more trouble for the rest of the day. Of course Hermione's optimism was misplaced and they'd no sooner arrived home than Scorpius had stripped off his clothes again and was running around the house naked. It looked like she was in for another exhausting day with her young son.

 **()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()**

 **Wednesday.**

After a breakfast, which included Scorpius spilling corn flakes all over the floor, Hermione decided to spend the morning doing something that would keep her son occupied, and hopefully out of trouble. In Hermione's experience the best way to keep Scorpius quiet was to let him draw and colour in. Her son loved to be creative, and he could spend hours with his colouring books.

"Can we paint?" Scorpius asked when Hermione told him of her idea.

"I was thinking more along the line of pencils and one of your colouring books," Hermione replied.

"I want to paint a picture," Scorpius protested. "Please Mummy, it's for you."

Faced with her son giving her a soulful look, Hermione found she couldn't say no to Scorpius. Despite her better judgement, she agreed to let Scorpius paint. Covering the dining room table with several layers of newspapers, Hermione gathered her son's paints, and placed them on the table along with a jug of water and several large pieces of paper.

"Do you want me to help?" She asked.

"No," Scorpius answered with a shake of his head as he settled down at the table. "I'm fine on my own."

"Even so, I think I'll stay to keep an eye on things," Hermione said.

Settling down at the opposite end of the dining room, Hermione summoned her book. The book was all about Astronomy and Hermione was hoping to get some inspiration for baby names. When she was pregnant the first time they'd known she was expecting a boy as the Malfoys had a charm on them ensuring all first borns are male so that the name would live on. However, this time they had no idea if she was expecting a boy or a girl. As for names, they had no options for a second child as Draco had mentioned the name Scorpius almost as soon as she'd told him she was pregnant, and Hermione had instantly known the name was perfect for their first born. That meant she had to find some options for the baby she was carrying, unless they were going to break away from tradition completely and name their second child something different.

As she flicked through the book, making the odd note on some spare paper when she found a name she liked, Hermione kept an eye on Scorpius. Luckily for the first time all week her son seemed content to sit quietly and not cause havoc. If she'd known painting was what was going to keep him quiet she would have tried it a few days ago.

After nearly ninety minutes in the dining room, Hermione needed to use the bathroom. Since Scorpius was being so well behaved, she told him to carry on with his picture while she quickly popped off upstairs. Scorpius nodded and promised to behave without even lifting his head from his art project as Hermione left the dining room.

Nearly five minutes later, Hermione returned to the dining room and her good mood evaporated as she stood in the doorway and took in the sight that greeted her. Scorpius was still sitting in his chair painting, only there was now green paint streaked through his platinum hair and all over his pale face. However, what was worse was the wall that was behind her son. Her beautiful pale lemon walls were splashed with various shades of green paint. Some of the paint was even dripping down the wall and running onto her lush cream carpet.

"Scorpius, what have you done?" Hermione cried as she got over her shock and entered the room.

"Nothing," Scorpius answered. When he looked up, Hermione groaned when she saw he'd painted a red moustache over his top lip.

"Why is there paint on my walls?" She demanded as she pulled out her wand. Hopefully magic would fix the damage and they wouldn't have to redecorate the entire room.

"I was picking a green for my dragon," Scorpius answered as he held up a piece of paper with a large green blob in the centre.

"You didn't have to try them on my walls," Hermione protested. "Just put the paints down and sit there like a good boy."

"But my dragon isn't done yet," Scorpius whined. "I want to give it to Daddy."

"I thought you were painting me a picture," Hermione said as she began trying to clean her walls and carpet.

"I did." Scorpius pointed to a second piece of paper and Hermione saw a portrait of their family, or at least she was assuming it was their family. The picture included two large stick figures, one with yellow hair and one with brown, a small stick figure with more yellow hair, a tiny figure she was assuming was the baby and a brown splodge that she thought was Zeus the puppy.

"It's lovely, Scorp," Hermione said, giving her son a smile. "I just wish you hadn't redecorated my dining room to make your second picture."

"Sorry," Scorpius replied with a small smile of his own. "But can I finish my dragon?"

"Only if you don't get any more paint on the floor or walls," Hermione said.

While Scorpius finished his second painting, Hermione focused her attention on the mess her son had created. Luckily magic fixed everything and there was no way of telling her walls and floor had been covered in paint moments earlier.

"Okay squirt, you need to have a bath before lunch," Hermione announced once she was finished with the walls.

"But Mummy, I don't want a bath," Scorpius protested.

"Messy boys have to have a bath," Hermione said firmly.

Despite Scorpius's protests, Hermione cleared away the paint things and leaving Scorpius's pictures to dry, she herded her son off upstairs to take a bath. Scorpius complained the entire time, but Hermione still managed to get the upper hand and get her son into the bath. Once Scorpius was clean, Hermione wrangled him into a fresh set of clothes and took him back downstairs to start preparing lunch.

"Can I have ice-cream?" Scorpius asked as Hermione placed a plate of beans on toast in front of him.

"After lunch," Hermione replied. "Eat your beans on toast first."

"I don't like beans," Scorpius complained.

"Yes, you do," Hermione said as she settled down with her sandwich. She'd deliberately made a light lunch as she was planning on making chicken parmesan for dinner. "Eat your beans, then we'll talk about ice-cream."

For nearly five minutes, Scorpius nibbled on his lunch and pushed his beans around his plate. Every time he mentioned ice-cream, Hermione shut him down and insisted that he eat the rest of his meal first.

"Beans are bad," Scorpius declared as he flicked one off his plate and onto the floor.

"Scorpius Malfoy, don't flick beans on the floor," Hermione scolded.

"Bad beans," Scorpius chanted as he continued to flick his beans around.

"Stop it," Hermione said, glaring at her son as she bent to clean up the beans he was scattering everywhere.

Hermione was just checking she hadn't missed any rogue beans when she heard her son giggling. With a bad feeling brewing inside her, Hermione hauled herself back up to the table and groaned loudly at Scorpius. Her son was laughing happily as he sat with beans dripping down over his head. He'd clearly tipped his dinner over his head the second her back was turned.

"No ice-cream for you," Hermione stated as she began cleaning her son up. "You're going to need another bath now, your hair's filthy."

"No bath," Scorpius said, trying to wriggle out of his mother's grasp. "I've had one."

"I know," Hermione muttered. "But you need another one now you've tipped your dinner over your head."

Cursing her son, and how the slightest thing made him look like a scruff, Hermione cleaned the kitchen and hauled Scorpius off for another bath. Scorpius whined the entire time and the second bath didn't go half as smoothly as the first, but finally Scorpius was clean again and was dressed in yet another set of clothes.

"I want you to be good this afternoon," Hermione said as they made their way back downstairs. "I have to make dinner, and I don't want to give you another bath."

"Can I play with Zeus in the garden?" Scorpius asked.

Hermione debated for a few minutes before agreeing Scorpius could play in the garden. The back garden was enclosed and had several security features to ensure her son wasn't hurt. Hermione double checked the wards were all in place, before opening the back door and letting Scorpius out. She then began getting everything sorted for making dinner.

"Mummy, can we have a ball?" Scorpius cried, bursting back into the kitchen after less than a minute outside.

"Okay, I'll bring you one out," Hermione answered.

Double checking she hadn't left any knives or anything dangerous out, Hermione headed to the bottom of the stairs and summoned one of Scorpius's balls. What she didn't realise was that while she was out of the kitchen, Scorpius had grabbed a spoon and a plastic container and taken them outside. When she emerged with the ball, Scorpius hid the container and spoon and thanked his mother with an angelic smile.

Hoping her son wouldn't get up to any more mischief, Hermione headed back into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. Every now and again she would glance out of the window and was pleased to see him kicking his ball about with Zeus. More importantly, he was staying clean.

As the afternoon wore on, Hermione got caught up in making dinner and she forgot to check on Scorpius. It was only when she was tidying up that she realised she hadn't checked on Scorpius for a while. Just as she was about to head over to the back door, it flew open and a muddy Scorpius and Zeus entered the kitchen. Scorpius was carrying one of her plastic containers in his hand, and he looked as though he'd been rolling in the mud.

"What have you been up to?" Hermione asked her son. Of course she was now regretting letting him out of her sight and into the back garden.

"Worms." Scorpius grinned widely as he thrust the plastic container under Hermione's nose.

Hermione grimaced at the sight of the container full of wriggly worms. "Did you dig these up?"

"Yep," Scorpius answered, producing a spoon from his pocket. "And I cleaned the rocks for you."

Peering out the back door, Hermione found a pile of rocks her son had dug up from the garden. At the top of the garden they had a tap, and it would appear her son had used it to clean the mud from the rocks he'd dug up.

"I think it's time you returned the worms to their homes now," Hermione said.

"But I want to keep them," Scorpius said as he plunged one of his fingers into the tub and began to swirl it around. "They're cool."

"Cool or not, worms belong in the garden," Hermione insisted.

"But Mummy…" Scorpius began, giving Hermione his best sad look.

"No buts," Hermione interrupted. "Put the worms back in the garden."

With a defeated sigh, Scorpius trudged back into the garden and tipped out his tub of worms. When he returned to the kitchen, Hermione deposited the container into the bin and threw the spoon into the sink.

"Right, let's go and have another bath," She said with a sigh.

"Not again," Scorpius moaned. "I'm clean already."

"You were," Hermione retorted. "Now you're filthy and need another bath. What will you Daddy say if he comes home and finds you covered in mud? He won't be happy."

Thoughts of Draco soon returning home, convinced Scorpius to take his third bath of the day without argument. When he was finally clean and redressed again, Hermione made sure they spent the rest of the afternoon reading quietly in the front room. And of course when Draco returned from home, Scorpius was as clean as they came and there was no indication he'd caused so much havoc that he'd had to have three baths over the course of the day.

 **()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()**

 **Thursday.**

Much to Hermione's relief it had been a relatively quiet morning. Scorpius was quite happily playing with his dragons, leaving her to relax with her astronomy book. Mid-way through the morning they were interrupted by the doorbell and when Hermione answered the door she found Ginny and her son, James on the doorstep. James was only a few months older than Scorpius and the pair were great friends.

"I hope you don't mind us popping by," Ginny said. "We were shopping and I suddenly remembered you'd started your maternity leave this week. So I bought cookies for the boys and passion fruit cheesecake for us. I thought we could have a coffee break."

"That sounds great," Hermione said, opening the front door and welcoming the pair into the house. Immediately James took off for the front room and she heard Scorpius enthusiastically greeting his friend. "Although it look as though you've bought more than cookies and cheesecake," She chuckled, gesturing to the multitude of bags her friend was carrying.

"I've been stocking up on birthday presents," Ginny answered as she settled her bags down beside the front door. "I just buy a pile of stuff and when birthdays roll around, I fish something out from my bag of goodies."

"I suppose that's one way of doing it," Hermione said with a laugh as they entered the front room. "Boys, do you want cookies and milk?"

"Yeah," Scorpius and James answered with a cheer.

Ginny grabbed the desserts out of the bag and followed Hermione as she went into the kitchen. Within five minutes they returned with a mid-morning snack for everyone. While Hermione and Ginny settled on the sofa with their cheesecake and drinks, the boys grabbed their milk and cookies and wolfed them down. They then settled themselves on the floor to play with Scorpius's dragons.

"So how are you enjoying your maternity leave?" Ginny asked Hermione after the pair had spent a good half hour catching up.

"I want to go back to work," Hermione wailed. "Seriously though, I've been off for three days and I'm already demented."

"Yeah, sitting around doing nothing can get quite boring."

"I would kill for the chance to sit around doing nothing," Hermione said as she told Ginny about her week so far.

"He really is a devil, isn't he?" Ginny chuckled as Hermione told her about Scorpius's antics. James could be a handful at times, but he didn't quite have Scorpius's knack for creating havoc.

"It's all my own fault," Hermione grumbled. "I was asking for trouble marrying a Slytherin and having children with him."

"And not just any Slytherin, a Malfoy at that," Ginny added.

"To be fair that could be where the mischievous genes come from," Hermione replied. "Lucius isn't exactly a trouble free sort of wizard."

"Those Malfoy genes are awfully strong," Ginny agreed. "Both in looks and personality. And just think, you'll soon have another Malfoy to add to the fun."

Hermione placed her hand on her stomach at the mention of her new child. "Let's hope the new baby takes after me."

"I'll drink to that," Ginny said, raising her cup to her lips and frowning when she found it empty. "Do you want another?"

"No, but you can feel free to make another one," Hermione said.

Ginny nodded as she got to her feet. "Boys, do you want another drink?" When there was no answer, she looked around and found no sign of the two boys. "James? Scorpius? Where are you?"

"Damn kids, always sneaking off," Hermione grumbled as she got to her feet.

After checking the boys weren't hiding behind the sofa or anywhere else in the room, Hermione and Ginny headed into the hallway in search of their errant sons. They didn't have to go far as they found Scorpius and James sitting at the bottom of the stairs with Zeus. Ginny's shopping was littered across the floor and the boys had opened several packages.

However, that was nothing compared to the mess the two boys and Zeus were in. Amongst Ginny's shopping was some make-up and the two boys had decorated their faces. They were also both wearing hats and scarves that Ginny had bought and it looked as though they'd been walking in a couple of pair of shoes Ginny had purchased. As for Zeus, the poor puppy was wearing ribbons on both his head and his tail.

"Oh, sweet Merlin," Ginny gasped as she took in the sight.

"I'm so sorry Gin," Hermione apologised, knowing her son would have been the ringleader. She doubted James would have ransacked his mother's shopping without Scorpius urging him to do so.

"It's not your fault," Ginny reassured her friend. "James is just as bad. Oh, are they my new knickers," She cried as James flicked something bright pink at Scorpius's head.

"Okay boys, that is enough," Hermione cried, stepping forward.

"We're only playing, Mummy," Scorpius said innocently.

"You don't play by rummaging in people's shopping," Hermione scolded as she and Ginny set about sorting out the mess.

Hermione removed the bows from Zeus, before removing all clothing items from the two boys. Ginny meanwhile was sorting the mess and working out what was still okay and what was ruined. Unfortunately, a lot of make-up had been ruined and would be no good to anyone. Finally, Ginny had sorted her shopping and made a mental note of what she needed to replace.

"Let's get you two washed," Hermione said. She was at least grateful that they'd only decorated each other's faces, meaning a wash in the sink would suffice over a bath.

"I don't want to get washed," James moaned as Hermione took hold of his hand and led him into the kitchen with Scorpius.

"Tough," Ginny said, following beside her son. "You're a right little messy pup. And messy pup's need washing."

Hermione sat Scorpius on one side of the sink and James on the other. She then handed Ginny a clean cloth and running some water into the sink the two mothers began to clean their children up. Despite the boys' protests it didn't take long to get them washed and dried.

"Okay, I think it's time we went home," Ginny said to James as she lifted him down from the kitchen counter. "Say goodbye."

"Bye, Aunt 'Mione. Bye, Scorp," James called, waving at his friend as Ginny dragged him towards the door.

"Bye, James," Scorpius said as he and Hermione followed the Potters to the door.

"We'll have to have dinner one night," Ginny said as she gathered up her bags. "I'll floo you and we can arrange something."

"That sounds great," Hermione replied as she said goodbye to her friend and godson.

Once Ginny and James had left, Hermione headed back to the kitchen with Scorpius and the pair had something to eat. Once they'd finished eating, Hermione fed Zeus as she washed the dishes.

"Zeus, you're such a messy pup," She sighed as she turned round to find dog food all over the floor. Quickly cleaning up the dog food, she turned to Scorpius and gave her son a smile. "Okay, I want to sort some things in my room. We're going to go upstairs and you and Zeus are going to play nicely. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mummy," Scorpius replied as he bolted for the door. "Come on Zeus, let's go."

Zeus immediately bounded after the young boy and Hermione followed the pair up the stairs. Once upstairs she erected a ward that prevented her son from going back down them without her express permission. Settling Scorpius and Zeus in her son's room, she headed for the master bedroom. Entering the bedroom, Hermione kept the door open in case her son wanted her. She then turned to her large, walk-in-wardrobe and began the task of sorting her clothes. It was something she'd been meaning to do for a while, but she was always so busy with work that she didn't have a chance. However, she now had the chance, although she wanted to grab it before the baby came along she was run off her feet with two children to care for.

Hermione was soon caught up in her sorting, and after half an hour she had a pile of stuff on the bed that she was going to donate to charity. She also had a few pieces that were just to be binned, but the majority of her old and unwanted clothes were still in a good enough state to be reused. After finishing on her wardrobe, Hermione turned to sort her drawers out. She'd just opened the drawer that held her nightwear when she heard a sound at the doorway. Expecting to see her son, she turned and choked out a cry as a soaking wet Zeus jumped onto the bed.

"What the…" She began, but didn't get her sentence finished before an equally wet Scorpius flew into the room after his puppy.

"Zeus come back," Scorpius cried. "You're having a wash."

"Zeus, get down," Hermione shouted as the puppy began to shake himself all over the clothes on the bed. "Bad dog."

"Bad dog," Scorpius repeated as his puppy got off the bed and went trotting to him.

"Scorpius, what are you doing?" Hermione demanded as she got to her feet. "Why are you all wet?"

"I was giving Zeus a wash," Scorpius replied. "Aunt Ginny said messy pup's needed to be washed, and you said Zeus was a messy pup."

"Please tell me you didn't run a bath," Hermione muttered as she hurried out of the bedroom.

The second Hermione was in the corridor she could hear the running water from the bathroom down the landing. Rushing into the bathroom, she managed to turn the taps off before the bath overflowed. However, the room was soaking and she suspected both Zeus and Scorpius had been in the bath and splashed around a fair bit.

"Scorpius, did you get in the bath with Zeus?" Hermione asked.

"I needed to wash him," Scorpius replied, giving his mother a look that implied she was crazy for even having to ask such a question.

"Of course you did," Hermione muttered. "Get out of your wet clothes and put them in the laundry basket."

While Scorpius was undressing, Hermione caught Zeus and with a lot of effort she managed to dry the puppy off. By the time she'd finished, Scorpius was totally naked and dancing around the bathroom singing happily.

"Let's get you back to your room," Hermione said. "You can put some pyjamas on and come into my room and read."

Scorpius had no problem with getting into his pyjamas and once he was cosy, he was happy to head back to Hermione's room. Hermione settled her son and his puppy in the window seat, as she turned her attention to sorting the mess Zeus and her son had made. Not only did she have to wash a pile of clothes she'd been planning on giving away, but she had to change the bed as well. Once that was finished, she then had to go and sort the mess in the bathroom. It was just another fun filled day with Scorpius, and dealing with the chaos he could cause despite only been four years old.

 **()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()**

 **Friday.**

Instead of dressing Scorpius in his normal clothes, Hermione dressed her son in old clothes that she wasn't bothered about him getting dirty. She was planning on spending the morning in the garden, and she knew the best way of keeping her son out of trouble was to have him help her. He had his own little wheelbarrow filled with his own gardening tools, and she knew he loved to mess about in the garden.

"After we've had breakfast, we're going to go in the garden," Hermione said to Scorpius as she poured him his cereal. After events earlier in the week, she'd decided pouring the cereal herself was the safest option.

"What are we going to do?" Scorpius asked. "Fly?"

"No, we're going to do some gardening," Hermione answered. "I'm going to get your tools out so you can help."

"Yeah," Scorpius cried. "I like to dig."

"I know you do," Hermione replied. "Just remember to only dig where I tell you."

"I will Mummy," Scorpius promised.

After finished breakfast, Hermione and Scorpius headed outside. Hermione grabbed her own gardening tools from the storage shed at the side of the house as well as getting her son's small blue wheelbarrow. The instant she appeared with the wheelbarrow, Scorpius grabbed it off her and wheeled it off to the side of the garden.

"Over here, Scorp," Hermione called as she made her way to the patch of garden she wanted to work on.

"But it's messy over here," Scorpius protested, kicking at a weed.

"I know, but we're starting over here," Hermione said. "Come on, and I'll show you what to do."

Once Scorpius had trundled his little wheelbarrow across the lawn, Hermione settled him down in front of a patch of garden that needed weeding. She showed Scorpius what to do, and warned him to stay in the little plot she'd sorted for him before turning to her own patch of garden that needed tending to.

"You're doing great, Scorp," Hermione said after five minutes as she watched her son throw a weed into his wheelbarrow.

"I am," Scorpius agreed as he continued to do as his mother had shown him.

Chuckling at her son, Hermione returned to pruning a rose bush. As she worked she kept a constant eye on Scorpius and was pleased to find he was behaving like an angel. He was doing exactly as she told him, and he hadn't gone wandering off to another part of the garden.

"I'm finished," Scorpius announced ten minutes later.

"Okay, let's find you another plot to weed," Hermione said as she got to her feet.

Finding a section of garden a bit further away, Hermione emptied her son's wheelbarrow into the garden waste before settling Scorpius back on with his work. Hermione then returned to her rose bushes, before she double checked the part of the garden her son had sorted for her. Finding the patch perfect for planting new seeds, Hermione double checked Scorpius was okay before she headed back to the storage shed to find some seeds. Hermione used a mixture of muggle and wizarding flowers in her garden, although she always used magic to ensure they flowered to their full potential.

Returning to the garden, Hermione found Scorpius where she'd left him. He was busy wedding his patch of garden while chattering on to Zeus, who was content to just lie beside him. Not seeing the need to check more closely on her son she settled down to sow her new seeds. Sowing the seeds took nearly ten minutes as Hermione was a perfectionist and wanted her flowers to grow in neat rows. When she was finished, she stood up and brushed some dirt from her old jeans.

"Do you want a drink, Scorp?" She asked, feeling the need for some refreshment herself.

"Yes, please," Scorpius answered, not looking up from his weeding.

Happy that her son was content, and for once not causing havoc, Hermione headed into the kitchen to grab some cold drinks. When she returned with the drinks she took one over to Scorpius and frowned when she spotted his wheelbarrow. It was full to the brim, but not with weeds. It looked as though Scorpius had spent the last half hour or so pulling out all the flowers she'd planted a few months back. Sure enough when Hermione checked the garden, Scorpius had finished with his patch of weeding and turned his attention to the patch of garden that had contained her newest flowers.

"Scorpius, why didn't you say you were finished?" Hermione asked, groaning at the sight of her beautiful flowers sitting crushed in her son's wheelbarrow.

"I'm not," Scorpius replied. "I'm getting rid of the weeds."

"These aren't weeds, they're flowers," Hermione gently pointed out.

"Oh." Scorpius paused, biting his lower lip in concern. "I'm sorry Mummy. I thought I was helping."

"I know you did, darling," Hermione said. Getting down on her knees she gave her son a hug. To be fair it wasn't really his fault, she should have watched him closer or been more specific when telling him which area to work in. "And you've been a big help. But why don't you stop weeding and have some juice."

"Okay," Scorpius said, taking the juice his mother offered him. "Then what are we going to do? More weeding?"

"No, next we're going to plant some new flowers," Hermione answered as she drank her own juice. "You can come and help me pick some seeds from the shed when we've finished here."

After finished her juice, Hermione checked the plots Scorpius had been working on to make sure there was no weeds left. As before he'd been very thorough, only instead of just removing weeds, he'd removed flowers as well. Satisfied the ground was good enough to plant fresh flowers, Hermione took Scorpius to help her pick some flower seeds. After some deliberation, her son had picked an assorted selection of flowers. With all the varieties he'd picked, Hermione guessed the patch was going to fail to live up to her neat expectations so she said the patch could be Scorpius's own personal bit of garden.

Settling Scorpius back down on the lawn, Hermione showed him how to plant his seeds. She then sat back and let her son plant his own seeds. As she predicted, Scorpius just scattered the seeds wherever he wanted and didn't bother keeping to the neat rows she suggested. When they were fully grown the flowers would likely look a bit wild, but at least Scorpius could say it was all his own work.

"Now we water them," Hermione said once her son had finished.

Scorpius grabbed his watering can and ran up to the tap at the top of the garden. By the time Hermione reached the tap, Scorpius had turned it on and the water was overflowing from his little watering can.

"Okay, that's enough," She said, turning the tap off. "Go and water your flowers, then come back for more."

Scorpius took off with his watering can at a sprint, and before Hermione could warn him to be careful he went crashing to the ground, spilling water everywhere. Luckily he was up and laughing about it before she even had a chance to move.

"I need more water," He said with a giggle as he made his way back to his mother. "I split mine."

"So I saw," Hermione replied as she refilled her son's watering can. "This time, walk."

Obeying his mother, Scorpius carefully walked back to his garden plot and began to water it. Since he only had a small watering can it seemed to take forever, but finally Hermione announced the seeds had enough water.

"When will they grow?" Scorpius asked. "Can I take some flowers to Gran?"

"They won't grow for a few more weeks," Hermione answered. The magic she used on the garden ensured the seeds bloomed fairly quickly, but they at least needed a few weeks in the ground.

"Boring," Scorpius said in a sing-song voice. "I want to pick some flowers for Gran."

"You don't pick flowers from the garden," Hermione said. "You let the flowers grow and they make the place look pretty."

Scorpius shrugged, not at all bothered with having a pretty garden. "Can I fly now?"

"No," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "I've still got to water my other flowers, so you can get a ball and play with Zeus."

Hermione sorted her son out with a ball, before she started to water the rest of the garden. Once that was done, she then gathered up all the gardening tools and returned them to the shed. Just as she was exiting the shed and locking it up so Scorpius couldn't go exploring she heard her son shouting for her. Moving as quickly as she could, Hermione rushed back into the garden and looked around for her son.

"Scorpius," She cried, gasping when she spotted him half under a fence at the side of the garden.

Beside him was a large pile of dirt, which he'd clearly dug up before trying to squeeze himself out under the fence. However, it looked as though he'd gotten stuck half way.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as she rushed over to her son. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm stuck," Scorpius whined. "I was getting my ball and I got stuck."

"Don't worry, I'm here and I'll rescue you," Hermione soothed.

Deciding magic was the safest bet to free her son, Hermione pulled her wand out and made the hole her son was crawling through bigger. She then gently pulled Scorpius back into the garden. Of course he was now fifthly from crawling through the mud.

"Honestly, Scorp, you're always getting into a pickle," Hermione sighed as she hugged her son.

"I was only trying to get my ball," Scorpius pouted.

"Where is it?" Hermione asked.

"Over there," Scorpius answered, pointing to the fence.

"Accio, ball," Hermione said with a flick of her wand and the ball came soaring back into the garden. "You know, I think that's enough gardening for one day. Let's go and get cleaned up and grab some lunch. I then have a mountain of clothes to put away."

After a quick bath for Scorpius, and a good wash for Hermione, the pair redressed in neater clothes and headed down for some lunch. After lunch, Hermione sorted the washing and they set off upstairs to put it away. Of course, Scorpius brought Zeus with him and the pair played happily while Hermione put her and Draco's clothes away. She then took the remainder of the clothes and headed into her son's room.

"I'm sleepy," Scorpius said with a yawn as Hermione settled herself on the floor to sort his drawers out.

"Then have a nap," Hermione said, hoping her son followed her advice. A few hours peace sounded like heaven after the week she'd had.

Scorpius nodded but made no move to climb into bed, instead he settled himself on the floor next to Hermione. Hermione thought he was content to just sit with her so she wasn't paying him any attention as she placed his clothes in his bottom drawer. Turning to double check she didn't have anything else for the bottom drawer, Hermione caught sight of the pyjamas she'd just put away come flying back out of the drawer. When she turned back to her son, she found him throwing things back out of the drawer.

"Scorpius," She scolded, tutting as she gathered up the discarded pyjamas and started refolding them.

Scorpius however paid her no attention as she removed a few more things before climbing into the drawer. Hermione then watched in amazement as he curled himself up on the remaining pyjamas and shut his eyes. Zeus immediately jumped in the drawer with Scorpius and snuggled up beside him. Luckily the drawers were quite big and they provided more than enough room for a small four year old and his puppy.

"Why can't he sleep in a bed like a normal boy?" Hermione asked herself.

However, she didn't have the heart to move her son. For the first time all week, he was settled and she was planning on enjoying the peace. Putting the rest of his clothes to one side, Hermione cast a charm that would alert her to Scorpius waking up before she headed to her own room. Once in her own bedroom, she settled on her bed with her book, enjoying the peace and quiet before it ended and Scorpius woke up looking for more trouble.

 **()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()**

 **Saturday.**

Since it was Saturday and Draco was going to be around, Hermione was hoping that Scorpius wouldn't cause too much trouble. It hadn't escaped her notice that the second Draco returned home, their son was nothing but an angel and there was no sign of his mischievous side. However, Hermione's hopes of Draco keeping Scorpius out of trouble were shattered over breakfast when Draco announced he was going to pick up his father's birthday present.

"I thought you did that yesterday," Hermione said with a frown. "I'm sure you mentioned it on Thursday night."

"I was planning on picking the watch up yesterday lunch time, but my meting ran over and I couldn't get to the jeweller before he shut for the evening," Draco explained. "I sent an owl informing the jeweller I'd be picking the watch up this morning."

"Scorpius, do you want to go with your Daddy?" Hermione asked.

"But I thought you were going to bake a cake for Father," Draco said before Scorpius could answer his mother.

"I am," Hermione replied. She'd agreed to make a cake for Lucius as her father-in-law had a sweet tooth and he reckoned muggle cakes were so much nicer than magical ones. "But I can do that while Scorpius goes with you."

"I want to make cake," Scorpius cried.

"It sounds like the decision is made," Draco said with a chuckle as he stood up. "You two enjoy making your cake, and I'll go and get Father's watch. I might even call into the office to finish up a few bits and pieces."

"Do not spend all day in the office," Hermione warned her husband. "I want you back here at lunchtime at the latest."

Draco nodded and gave Hermione a kiss before giving Scorpius a hug and leaving the kitchen. Not entirely sure her husband had taken her warning seriously, Hermione told Scorpius she would back for them to bake in a few minutes as she followed her husband into the front room.

"I mean it, Draco," Hermione said as she came up behind her husband as he activated the floo network. "You don't need to spend all day in the office."

"I won't, I promise," Draco vowed. Grabbing Hermione by the wrist he gently pulled her into his arms and gave her a lingering kiss. "I'll be back before you know it, and we can spend the rest of the day together. I can tire Scorpius out this afternoon then we can have a romantic, peaceful night tonight."

"I like the sound of that," Hermione replied with a smile. "And if you really tire Scorp out, we might be able to really take advantage of the peace. I've got a beautiful new lingerie set that you haven't seen."

"I can't wait to see it," Draco said with a wide grin. "In fact, I can't wait to tear it off you."

"There will be no tearing," Hermione stated firmly. "The set is new and expensive, and I don't want it ruined. Besides, I'm hardly in shape for tearing underwear and having steamy quickies. Any action will take place in bed at a reasonable tempo."

Draco chuckled at his wife and gave her a final kiss goodbye before he released her and headed off to pick his father's birthday present up. Hermione watched her husband go with a smile on her face. She then turned around and headed back into the kitchen, where she was greeted by major chaos.

Hermione kept all her baking ingredients in one of the bottom cupboards, and it would seem Scorpius had remembered just which cupboard. He'd pulled out bags of flour and sugar and tipped them all over the floor. It was just lucky the eggs were well out of his reach, or else he would have added eggs as well.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, feeling as though she'd asked the question a million times over the past week.

"Making a cake," Scorpius answered as he swirled his hands around in the flour and sugar mixture.

"We don't make cakes on the floor," Hermione said with a sigh. "Let's get you up and hope we've still got enough ingredients for your grandfather's cake."

Picking Scorpius up, Hermione wiped his hands and clothes and sat him back down at the table. She then magically cleaned the flour and sugar off the floor and checked they still had enough to make a cake. Luckily she had an unopened full bag of each so Scorpius little playtime hadn't ruined things. Sorting everything they would need, Hermione handed Scorpius a wooden spoon of his own.

"You can help stir," She told him as she preheated the oven and greased the cake tins.

"Can Zeus help stir?" Scorpius asked.

"No," Hermione replied. "In fact, I think Zeus should go into the front room. We don't want dog hairs in the cake, do we?"

"Ugh, no," Scorpius replied as he pulled a face.

Once Hermione had shooed the puppy out of the kitchen and shut the door behind him, she set about measuring the ingredients.

"Can I mix yet?" Scorpius asked.

"In a minute," Hermione replied as she beat the butter and sugar together.

Once she was satisfied the hard work was done with the butter she added an egg and let Scorpius have a stir. Before she added the second egg, she gave the mixture a stir of her own, before handing it back to her son. Leaving Scorpius in charge of the stirring she then began to sift in the flour.

"It's snowing," Scorpius laughed as the flour trickled into the cake mixture.

"Are we making the cake chocolate?" Hermione asked, even though she knew the answer as she was melting chocolate as they spoke.

"Yes, chocolate," Scorpius cheered.

Adding in the chocolate, Hermione took over the stirring from her son. "You can lick the spoon," She told him as she finished mixing the cake.

Scorpius immediately began licking the spoon and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. Her son soon had chocolate smeared around his mouth, but he was enjoying himself and a bit a chocolate cake mix was easily washed off. Finishing with the stirring, Hermione poured the cake mixture into the two prepared cases.

"Can I lick the bowl?" Scorpius asked when Hermione placed the empty bowl back onto the table.

Hermione absentmindedly agreed as she opened the oven and stuck the cakes in. Setting a timer on her wand, she turned back to her son to see him putting his entire head into the mixing bowl. When he then lifted his head back out, he had chocolate everywhere. It was smeared all over his face and his blond hair was streaked with brown. Hermione opened her mouth to tell Scorpius that wasn't the way to lick out the bowl when he put his head back into the bowl for a second time.

"What's the point? He's already dirty," Hermione muttered to herself as she watched her son continue to dive head first into the mixing bowl.

"It's yummy," Scorpius announced as he removed his head from the bowl and smacked his lips in appreciation.

"Good," Hermione said as she swiped the bowl and spoons off her son and deposited them in the sink. "Now let's go and get cleaned up before the cake comes out of the oven and we can decorate it."

She had debated waiting to the end of the cake making to wash Scorpius, but she couldn't just let him sit there with chocolate in his hair. However, a quick bath was all it took for Scorpius to be clean again and by the time they were finished, Hermione's wand beeped to let her know the cake was ready.

"I'm thinking chocolate fudge icing," Hermione said to Scorpius as she lifted the cakes out of the oven and cast a cooling charm on them. Cooling charms were the only bit of magic she used on cakes, and that was only so that she could decorate them quicker.

"Yummy," Scorpius said, rubbing his stomach.

Getting out what she would need, Hermione set about making the chocolate fudge icing. As she suspected, Scorpius wanted to help, but when she tried to help him use the electric whisk he got a bit carried away and icing sugar went everywhere, including all over her and Scorpius.

"You look like a ghost, Mummy," Scorpius laughed when he turned round and found Hermione with icing sugar all over her hair.

"So do you," Hermione replied, laughing along with her son. They would now both need a wash, but they were having fun.

After another couple of failed attempts to master a whisk, which further covered them in icing sugar, Scorpius got enough control of the whisk that the chocolate icing began to take shape. Finally, Hermione was satisfied with the result and sandwiching the two cakes together, she smothered the top and side of the cake with the icing.

"Let's add some fudge pieces," She said, pulling a bag of small fudge pieces out of the cupboard and handing them to her son.

"Mmm, these are yummy," Scorpius said as he nibbled on one of the fudge pieces.

"You're supposed to be putting them on Grandpa's cake," Hermione chuckled.

"I am," Scorpius replied as he placed a fudge piece on the cake, before popping another one in his mouth. "One for the cake, one for me. One for the cake, one for me," He sang as he continued to decorate the cake.

Finally, the fudge pieces ran out and the cake was decorated. Placing it onto a cake board, Hermione left it to one side for the following day.

"Will Grandpa like it?" Scorpius asked as they headed off upstairs to get washed again.

"He'll love it Scorp," Hermione reassured her son. She knew just the fact Scorpius had been involved would be enough for Lucius to declare it the best cake ever. She had to hand it to her father-in-law, he always knew how to make Scorpius feel special.

Ten minutes later both Hermione and Scorpius were clean. The pair had just returned to the front room when Draco arrived home. Immediately Scorpius dragged Draco off to see the cake they'd made, and as Hermione heard her husband praising Scorpius, she was grateful that Draco also had the ability to make their son feel special. She knew without a doubt that her son was going to grow up knowing just how much his family loved him.

"The cake looks great," Draco said as he settled down next to Hermione on the sofa.

"It should do after the fuss we had to make it," Hermione said. "I don't think I've ever had as much fuss making a cake as I had today."

"The important thing is that it's done," Draco said, dropping a kiss on his wife's head. "Now, just relax for the rest of the day and let me handle everything."

"That sounds amazing," Hermione replied.

Settling down more comfortably on the sofa, she was quite content to lie and watch as her husband and son spent the afternoon playing together. Although she couldn't help but notice that Scorpius didn't do anything mischievous. There was no painting himself, digging up worms, throwing flour and sugar on the floor, or any of the other adventures he'd gotten up to that week. With Draco he was content to be an angel.

 **()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()**

While Hermione had been talking there was constant laughter around the table. Blaise especially found the whole thing hysterical, especially the parts he'd inadvertently played a part in. Lucius and Draco were thoroughly amused by the tales, although they suspected Hermione's hormones were making it seem worse than it was. Meanwhile Narcissa was laughing away and thinking how much Scorpius resembled his father. A few of the situations Hermione described brought back memories of what her own son had gotten up to in his childhood.

"I love Scorpius," Blaise announced when he could finally speak. "The kid is a class act."

"I don't know about that, I would say terror is a more appropriate description this week," Hermione replied.

"You've got to admit, he's hilarious," Blaise said. "I mean fancy asking for sex for breakfast. Brilliant."

"It just shows he's got good taste," Lucius said with a smirk. "Unfortunately it will be a few years before he's experiencing the joys of sex for breakfast."

"I know someone else who won't be experiencing it for a while," Hermione said, looking pointedly at her husband.

"It was an accident," Draco protested. "Blaise and I were in my office, we had no idea he was listening in on our conversation."

"I've warned you before to be careful what you say," Hermione said. "He picks up on everything."

"Yeah, including an off the cuff remark about messy pups," Blaise laughed. "I can't believe he tried to wash the puppy."

"I can," Narcissa replied. "When Draco was five he did the same thing with our dog. The only problem was, we had a fully grown dog, not a puppy. The dog took off with Draco hanging onto his back for dear life."

"How big was the dog that it could carry a five year old around?" Blaise asked.

"It was part wolf," Lucius answered. "It was a beast of a thing."

"Plus Draco was small for his age," Narcissa added.

"Yeah, I remember when we started school. Draco was tiny," Blaise said with a laugh.

"I was not tiny," Draco argued. "I was only eleven, I was still growing."

"And a very good job you did of it," Hermione said, running a soothing hand over her husband's arm.

"Did you happen to get a picture of Scorpius in his drawer?" Narcissa asked. "I bet he looked so adorable."

"He did, but I didn't think to take a picture," Hermione replied.

"That's such a shame," Narcissa said with a rueful smile. "I've got a whole album full of pictures of Draco sleeping in strange places. I couldn't help but snap a picture whenever he crashed out somewhere unusual."

"Like where?" Blaise asked, eager to hear stories about his best friend that he could use to taunt him.

"I've got pictures of him in the dog basket, in the bottom of my wardrobe, under the Christmas tree. The lists endless. He just used to curl up and sleep anywhere."

"I hope you're going to show us this album, Narcissa," Hermione said, laughing as her husband groaned and buried his head in his hands.

"Of course I will," Narcissa said. "But first let's have some cake."

"Scorpius," Hermione called as Narcissa summoned a house elf to fetch them some drinks. "We're having cake."

Immediately Scorpius ran over and jumping up on Lucius's knee he settled down to have cake and juice. As her son stuffed chocolate cake into his mouth, Hermione watched him with a tender smile. He may have been a right handful over the past week, but she wouldn't change him for the world. She just hoped baby number two wasn't as mischievous as their big brother. She shuddered to think what would happen if she had another child like Scorpius. Could she cope with two mini Draco's? More importantly, could the world cope with two children exactly like their father? Either way, in a few months' time they would find out when the newest Malfoy made their appearance into the world.

 **The End.**


End file.
